The Crime Comedy That Did The Best With The Pandemic Features Marvel And DC Stars
Locked Down will be remembered as one of the best films made during or about COVID. It just needs a little time and space from the events covered for that to really become clear to people. This movie deserves credit not only for the results, a solid film with great actors but also for the scope of what it managed to pull off at the height of a global pandemic.
If you loved Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises or Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo in Dr. Strange, you will adore Locked Down.
A Pandemic Time Capsule
Director Doug Liman and screenwriter Steven Knight got together on a Zoom call in July of 2020, right when the entire world was literally freaking out over an unknown virus spreading rapidly through the world’s population. Liman says getting this film made while the events were still taking place was his way of coping with COVID – Locked Down was his therapy.
He jumped on a call with Knight, and the two began fleshing out ideas for a screenplay. Knight then wrote the entirety of the screenplay over the month of July, and Liman and Knight began casting.
Written After Lockdowns Were In Effect
He jumped on a call with Knight, and the two began fleshing out ideas for a screenplay. Knight then wrote the entirety of the screenplay for Locked Down over the month of July, and Liman and Knight began casting.
Hathaway was the first to be cast because Liman saw how she could provide humor even in the darkest times, and Ejiofor was brought on board next because he could bring a “Cary Grant” aspect to this dramedy caper.
Shot In Record Time For A Hollywood Film
Locked Down was shot in under 180 days on a reported $10 million budget, complete with the COVID restrictions in effect at the time. Huge stars were included in the film because they could shoot with family members with whom they were already in contact. For example, Ben Stiller stars as Hathaway’s boss on a Zoom call, where his real-life son sabotages the call.
Liman reports having to figure out how, where, and what to emphasize about the pandemic in this film.
The Nightmare Lockdown Situation
The premise is that a long-time couple is at the end of their relationship when the shutdown orders are put into place in London, and they are locked down together. Hathaway plays Linda, an executive at a firm undergoing layoffs due to COVID, and Ejiofor stars as Paxton, a down-on-his-luck delivery man who struggles to find work because of his past prison record.
A Desperate Plan
Just as they’re about to break up, they find themselves locked down in their London flat together, with Paxton annoyingly making homemade bread and Linda pouring her first glass of wine before noon every day. The first half of the film can be tough for anyone who had difficulty being stuck at home during the pandemic. It reveals the monotony of the day-to-day, the frustrations of living with someone who gets on your nerves, and the slowness of life without social and professional pressures.
But Hathaway and Ejiofor pull it off remarkably well. They make you believe it, they make you wish they were still madly in love, and they make you wonder what’s next. Then, Ejiofor comes up with a plan to steal a $3 million dollar diamond from Harrod’s.
What happens next becomes pure heist caper fun, the likes of Ocean’s 11.
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REVIEW SCORE
Locked Down has mixed reviews across the board, mostly negative, but I would speculate that is because it still feels too close to home for too many people. I have little doubt that 10 or 20 years from now, this film will go down as one of the best representatives of the early days of the pandemic.
But it’s worth watching for those savvy enough to get ahead of the trend now. I give it 5 stars out of 5. Rent Locked Down on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube, or Google Play.
